The ambush of a convoy in South Sudan and the hacking deaths of bloggers in Bangladesh this year propelled the two nations onto CPJ's Global Impunity Index, which spotlights countries where journalists are murdered and their killers go unpunished. Colombia exited the index as fatal violence against journalists receded further into that country's past.

For the first time since CPJ began compiling the index in 2008, Iraq did not claim the title of worst offender, as Somalia edged into that spot. The shift reflects a steady death toll in Somalia, where one or more journalists have been murdered every year over the past decade, and the government has proved unable or unwilling to investigate the attacks.

New York, June 24, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the conviction on Friday of the gunman in the 2013 murder of Brazilian journalist Rodrigo Neto and calls on authorities to ensure all those responsible, including the mastermind, are brought to justice.

São Paulo, April 22, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the harassment of journalists reporting on corruption in the Brazilian state of Paraná and calls on authorities to ensure their safety. A Brazilian journalist has gone into hiding after receiving death threats, while at least four others from a daily news outlet said they have been constantly harassed by police, according to the reporters and their employers.

São Paulo, March 2, 2015--Brazilian authorities should immediately investigate the murder of radio journalist Ivanildo Viana, identify the motive, and bring the killers to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

4. Steps That Work and Those That Don’t

On May 3, 2011, CPJ representatives traveled to Pakistan to raise concerns about the increasing attacks against journalists there and the country’s high rate of impunity. It was a moment of drama: The previous day, American forces had killed Osama bin Laden in nearby Abbottabad. But Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari kept his commitment and met CPJ to discuss the growing number of Pakistani journalists murdered because of their work, and the absence of prosecution against the assailants.

New York, June 12, 2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about reports that three journalists were injured covering protests against the World Cup in Sao Paulo today. CNN producer Barbara Arvanitidis sought treatment at a hospital for an arm injury and CNN correspondent Shasta Darlington and Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão cameraman Douglas Barbieri suffered minor wounds from canisters of stun grenades thrown by authorities to disperse protesters, according to news reports and statements by CNN journalists on Twitter.

"The federal government is fully committed to continue
fighting against impunity in cases of killed journalists," Brazilian President
Dilma Rousseff told a CPJ delegation during a meeting on Tuesday in Brasilia,
the country's political capital. Accepting that deadly violence against the
media is a detriment to freedom of the press, Rousseff said her administration
will implement a mechanism to prevent deadly attacks, protect journalists under
imminent risk, and support legislative efforts to federalize crimes against
freedom of expression.

Introduction

By Joel Simon

For a long time, Brazil has been fighting to overcome its contradictions. The country features a dynamic, modern, and diverse economy—and some of the worst poverty in the hemisphere. It has been led by two successive Socialist governments, and yet retains one of the most skewed income distributions in the world.

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1. In the government’s hands

By Carlos Lauría

Since June 2013, Brazil has been the scene of sporadic but huge anti-government demonstrations that have brought millions to the streets to protest an array of grievances, from fare increases for public transport to corruption and the use of public funds to host the coming soccer World Cup. The protests sometimes turned violent; a cameraman was killed in February 2014. Throughout the demonstrations, dozens of journalists have been detained, harassed, and attacked by law enforcement and by protesters irked by some media treatment of the demonstrations.

2. The vicious cycle of impunity

By Sara Rafsky

When theWorld Cup kicks off in Brazil in June, the government of President Dilma Rousseff will be celebrating the country’s emergence as a global powerhouse. The event, to be staged at sites across the country, will put the nation’s vast and diverse territory on display,unlike the Olympics, which Brazil is hosting two years later in just one city, Rio de Janeiro. While the 2012 murder of a local soccer journalist in central-western Goiânia may run counter to the official narrative of success, it reflects the disparate realities of a country as immense as Brazil, and depicts a darker side of “the beautiful game.”